Welcome to 2018!
The Holidays were quite amazing and I had 5 whole days to rest, eat and spend time with Family. Everything was dandy until I climbed the scale during my year-end medical check-up, and I had gained 4kg!
That was the moment when my mind shifted back to ‘reality’ and I switched back to work and exercise mode.
I started work immediately after the holidays as I came to terms with the fact that nothing will be different this year in business and my body if I did not hit the ground ‘running’.
As I got back in the grind of work, onboarding our new
Business leaders circle members and planning for our new
programs this year, it struck me that some business owners will set goals per usual this year, with little or no significant growth.
For significant growth to happen in your organization this year, you will need to pay attention to these 3 things:
Mindset
This is one of the most often ignored factors in all areas of life, but it has the most significant impact on how things turn out. I wrote an article middle of last year about a research I did on two business owners in a similar line of trade.
One of them was making significant progress whilst the other one was struggling. We worked with both of them to redefine their business strategy and create tactical plans for growth, yet it did not change much.
Upon further investigation, I realized that the one that was struggling did not have a mindset that could comprehend the decisions that needed to be made or accept the kind of growth that the business needed.
A few questions you could answer to identify your own mindset blocks for business are:
- What is your mindset about growing a successful business? Clue: Possible, daunting, painful or impossible.
- What are the factors that will limit you from growing? Clue: Self-belief, impatience, comparison, skill gap or lack of focus.
- Do you have a clear picture of the business you want to build and how it supports your lifestyle?
Strategy
Once you have the right mindset, then you can develop a winning strategy to clearly show how your business will go from where it is to where you want it to be by the end of 2018.
In developing your firm strategy or strategic framework, you should be clear about your Core focus, competitive advantage, marketing strategy, brand positioning, revenue model and financing plan.
These are very important business terms that when you clarify, will ensure that you don’t do business, as usual, this year.
Tactics
These are the actual steps you will take to implement your strategy. Tactics are about taking action, but action will be a directionless activity without the right business strategy. I usually see business owners jumping from one tactic to another, with the aim of growing or generating sales, without a clear strategic direction.
Tactical activities are things like; distribution plan, marketing activities and promotional activities and other operational activities that will bring the strategy to life.
From my experience working with business owners, I have found that visionary entrepreneurs are better at strategic thinking than actual implementation. While tactical entrepreneurs are good at activity without necessarily considering strategic planning.
A combination of all three factors is important to drive business growth this year.
If you are interested in laying the foundation for your enterprise to grow in 2018, we have an open session on the 20th of January in Lagos. You can register to attend
HERE.
It’s a free session, so seats will fill up fast.
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This article was first published on 16th January 2018
tale-alimi
'Tale Alimi is a foremost business coach, business growth expert,
Entrepreneurial thought leader and Host of the Entrepreneur's journey
radio show currently airing on WFM 91.7. She has an expertise in guiding business owners and professionals to up-level their business and revenues.
'Tale has started and run several businesses and has experienced what
makes a business succeed or fail and she brings her experience to bare in helping business owners build successful and thriving businesses. She also has over 13 years corporate experience in Consulting, Telecommunications and Technology sectors; she was part of or led teams that grew the business revenues of these organizations.
She was a lead facilitator at Businessday SME Connect conference. She has a Masters in Business Administration from Lagos business school, a
certificate in personal coaching from the coaching academy UK and is
currently the Lead coach/CEO at Tale Alimi Global( talealimi.com.com).
Connect with 'Tale on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the icons below.
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